Feast of Fools
by SoothsayerOfTheVale
Summary: Yuki Matarashi was only the first in a long string of unexplained murders. Hinata was one of the last to see her. A mysterious killer who leaves their victims torn to shreds in their beds has plagued Konoha for months. People crowd around the crimes scenes to feed their morbid curiosity, but for others it is a way to stay alive as the nightmare are getting closer to home.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: None of the characters or setting belong to me they are all the intellectual property of Masashi Kishimoto.

Long Summary:

Yuki Matarashi was only the first in a long string of unexplained murders. A mysterious killer who leaves their victims torn to shreds in their beds has plagued Konoha for months. People crowd around the crimes scenes to feed their morbid curiosity, but for others it is a way to stay alive as the nightmares are getting closer to home. Hinata Hyuuga, an under the radar high school junior, is part of the crowd in a bizarre action of trying to clear her conscience and trying to stay alive as long as she can. She was one of the last people to see Yuki a few hours before her death causing her grief for not being able to save her. But, her quest for closure is bringing her closer to what waits in the shadows.

* * *

_This used to be one of those towns where you didn't have to lock your doors at night and you could trust your neighbors but the new millennia ushered in change that seemed to shake even small southern towns to their core. It's getting worse, much worse in Konoha as people begin to disappear or wake up in their beds torn to shreds from what the police can only describe as unknown and slightly resembling an animal attack- not a welcome explanation because it gives the villain no face. I want to know the face of the person that I am supposed to run from. They always taught us stranger danger but only ever gave the villain the visage of a black man in a brim hat and trench coat, which would only help if we lived in a cartoon world. Now, they tell us that the villain could likely be someone we know. I don't know what I fear more being killed by some shadowy figure or meeting my fate by the hands of someone I thought I could trust._

**Chapter One**

People crowd around the Mimori's house on Chiba Square as police and paramedics continually run in and out of the house answering few questions of the voyeuristic mass. Part of me thought that they no longer answered to let the false accusations and grotesque imagery grow in the inventive minds of the on-lookers who could come of with anything from the deranged wander to werewolves. The news story that would appear on the six-O-clock news would be the same as the last, though. They would tell us that there was still no suspect in the case and that it resembled a wild animal attack not offering us in form of comfort.

I make my way into the crowd, shoving and dodging until I made it to the front where my friend Sakura always seemed to find her place. When, the first story broke Sakura was the first one to dive into the story with morbid curiosity that even my own could not rival, though, we did not have much of a choice because we were forcefully dragged into this mess because we were nice to the wrong person. This caused Sakura to feel as if she needed to solve the case to truly feel safe and absolve her conscience turning her into our own little Chloe Sullivan-if that is even a relevant reference- with her wall of weird on this particular reoccurring tragedy and I'm just dragged along because I am the only seventeen year old that still has a camera that actually uses film that would actually go along with the plan.

I huffed and nodded to her before asking the formal, "What happened this time?"

She looked at me with wide green eyes radiating her excitement that I could not manage to share in such a morose setting, "Oh Hee—na-tuh, you don't even know," she sang, unhelpfully.

I pinched the bridge of my nose trying to resist the urge to hit her, "Just spit it out, dumbass," I sighed.

She smiled wider not minding the insult; "It was the whole family this time. Not just one of the kids,"

"And, this means?"

"They think that the killer has teamed up with someone else because the tear pattern on one of the victims doesn't fit the killer's usual style,"

I shrugged and replied half-jokingly, "Maybe, he's just trying to be creative,"

She glowered at me not finding it a bit funny. Apparently, excitement was ok but jokes were not in such circumstances.

"Oh, Hinata you are not taking this serious," she whined.

I stare down at my camera twisting the focus rings to preoccupy my hands as I try to formulate the proper response. Finally I uttered in remorse, "You're right. I'm not, but I am just confused. I don't see why people aren't running away, instead coming to watch the show. I was like this once, but now it makes me sick,"

Her eyes turned sad and she placed her hand on my shoulder trying to calm me, "You don't have to do this if you don't want to,"

I shake her hand off, "If I don't I just increase my chances of dying because my ignorance. I don't know about you Kura, but I'm not ready to die,"

She purses her lips and stares at me with sympathy not really knowing what to say anymore. We weren't much for talking anymore because no matter where the conversation started it would always leads us back to this, to the thought of those we once knew dying. It started with Yuki Matarashi, an old classmate from elementary school that decided to enroll in St. Mito when everyone else was heading on to Konoha Middle. Sakura and I saw her at the local 24-hour cafe the night before at three in the morning when none of us quite wanted to go home and we were too broke to afford gas.

Yuki had just had a fight with her parents for some reason or another and wanted to be _rebellious_, which in her definition was staying out til' the crack of dawn drinking coffee. I remember laughing at her as she recounted her adventure when she came to sit with us because we were the only slightly familiar faces in the joint. She grinned when Sakura cracked her corny jokes and blushed when I would swear so loudly the waitress would turn to give me a disapproving look. We stayed til' five and I gave her a ride home and watched her go into her house and shut the door behind her only to wake up to my _mother_ sobbing at the end of my bed telling me that Yuki was found dead in her bed at ten-o-clock that morning. Torn to shreds, most of her organs gnawed on or missing.

I heaved up the contents of my almost empty stomach when the news hit me and again when the police showed me the pictures. Flashes of red staining my vision as I stared at ribbons of the girl that I knew only hours before as her heart beat with rhythm. But that heart, it wouldn't beat again because it no longer existed. A lot of things about her no longer existed, from what I could see and what they told me.

It was protocol to question the last people that saw the victim even if they were just teenagers because crazier shit has happened. After we were let go, Sakura and I had clung to each other whispering hollow words of comfort to one another. We knew that everything was far from over as we were taken back out into our changing world. We laid our heads on our pillows and tried to escape from our new reality, but sleep no longer offered comfort.

Sakura still dreamed of trying to save Yuki from the unseen attacker, but is never able to reach her in time. I dreamed of the night _they_ will finally come for me and secretly prayed that_ they_ will spare Sakura. Part of me wondered what _they _dreamed of if _they_ dreamed at all.

"Here they come," a voice whispered, pulling me from my thoughts as everyone watched as stretcher after stretcher was pulled from the house, body bag after body bag.

"Camera ready?" Sakura asked, eyes trained ahead as if she could not bare to look away for a mere second fearing they would disappear once she did. On days like this she would barely breath, afraid of inhaling the scent of death.

I raise the camera to my face and peer intently through the viewfinder, adjusting the dials with an eerie determination as I tried to find the perfect setting to capture such a macabre scene. But, something stops me. A shiver up my spine and a face that should not be there, but somehow found its way within my lens. Black eyes stared back as I felt myself beginning to shake from a strange sense of fear that should not have been there, not now. I could vaguely hear Sakura's panicky voice as she asked if I was all right, grabbing onto my shoulders and shaking me when I would not respond to her calling. But, I couldn't move. My mind and body were numb with fear while all the face could do was stare. Their eyes bleed into my world and next thing I knew- I was down the rabbit hole.

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Chapter Two Preview

_The dark haired woman with eyes the color of blood leaned down towards her companion with eyes the color of black water, yet, they were eerily still and unmoving portraying nothing of what he truly felt as he stared at her with chilling ease. She looked pleasant enough, but it the feeling she gave off that made you want to keep your distance as she sized you up with her crimson eyes as if she secretly wondered what your soul tasted like. Was it something good to eat? _


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: None of the characters or setting belong to me they are all the intellectual property of Masashi Kishimoto.

Long Summary:Yuki Matarashi was only the first in a long string of unexplained murders. A mysterious killer who leaves their victims torn to shreds in their beds has plagued Konoha for months. People crowd around the crimes scenes to feed their morbid curiosity, but for others it is a way to stay alive as the nightmares are getting closer to home. Hinata Hyuuga, an under the radar high school junior, is part of the crowd in a bizarre action of trying to clear her conscience and trying to stay alive as long as she can. She was one of the last people to see Yuki a few hours before her death causing her grief for not being able to save her. But, her quest for closure is bringing her closer to what waits in the shadows.

Cory: Thanks for the review. I really appreciate it.

* * *

**Chapter Two**

_The dark haired woman with eyes the color of blood leaned down towards her companion with eyes the color of black water, yet, they were eerily still and unmoving portraying nothing of what he truly felt as he stared at her with chilling ease. She looked pleasant enough, but it the feeling she gave off that made you want to keep your distance as she sized you up with her crimson eyes as if she secretly wondered what your soul tasted like. Was it something good to eat? _

"_Will you give me what I need," he whispered into the crook of her neck as she nuzzled her face into his dark hair murmuring sweet nothings in a language that was familiar and distant all the same. The language of stories no longer told._

"_In good time, my love," she replied, in breathy hushed tones that gave hint to the lie._

_ Then, the scene bled into the color of the women's eyes. The man was bathed in the life giving liquid of another and the darkness slowly fading giving life to a garish shade that rivaled that of his body "paint". This man had been born anew into something else. Something that should not be, but was created to remind us that no plan was perfect for the bridge was a lot thinner than we would like to think. _

"Hinata," a voice whispered to me from some far off place that I could not quite reach for I was stranded in the white abyss. Everything around me was empty, hands grasping onto nothingness as I tried to reach out.

"Open your eyes," another voice whispered to me. This one was closer, reaching out through the protective layers trying to caress me. But, I could not reach them.

"Hina-," a distorted voice began before beginning to fade away on the last syllable barely speaking the faint _tuh _before drifting into the void.

"Are you awake?" spoke a crystal clear voice that shattered one of the walls.

"Who are you," I stated, not opening my eyes to look at them. Part of me knew the answer and I feared it because it shattered all my carefully thought out lies. _Two good, for one thought bad. _

They giggled, a sickly, taunting little laugh before answering, "I'm you," There it was. That was the answer I did not want to hear. The answer that reminded me that I was not alone in the sanctity of my own mind that should shelter me not destroy me. Introducing me to the evil that lay beneath carefully crafted walls of goodness and sanity.

Hearing my thoughts they continued, "Well, the better half,"

I huffed, "The sick half. The broken half, the part that should not be there,"

"The half that is not blind," she finished ignoring my words. "Oh, it's time to wake up," she said as an after thought before dispersing into the white void once more cutting our meeting far too short.

"Wait, why are you here? Why did you bring me here? What do you mean I am blind?" I spoke hurriedly though I knew it was already too late and I would not receive my answers.

I opened my eyes and took in the view of an unfamiliar ceiling devoid of all the knick-knacks and crude imprints of the ages that adorned the one in my bedroom. It was a plain, nearly depressing white that was too uniform, too clean without the stains of life to welcome any notion of it. What was this dreary place and why was I here?

Before I could even begin to piece together my questions a pink mess buried themselves in my arms as the sobbed loudly into my chest, their body heaving as they whispered jumbled apologies into my stomach. I quickly sat up and buried my hands in their hair and harshly pulled them up to face me, their green eyes dulled with tears and snot streaming down their face as they mumbled sorry to me over and over again as the words began to blend together. Glaring at my wreck of a best friend, I sighed and drew her into me whispering sweet nothings into her ear while stroking her hair and back trying to calm her into a false sense of ease. Slowly, the body wracking sobs turned into soft hiccups as she calmed down and began to pull away from me.

"I'm sorry, Hina," she hiccupped, rubbing her eyes with the sides of her fist trying to brush away the stray tears.

"It's OK, Kura," I sighed before looking around and taking in my surroundings. White was the blinding color that entered my vision causing my body to coil and my mind to doubt. The walls and the tiles were just two different variants of the tint and were too clean like the ceiling before. A silver chair sat alone by the window that gave no view to the outside world-only blackness.

"Hina," Sakura questioned trying to draw my attention.

I looked at her, her green eyes were wide with askance but she didn't continue waiting for me to speak the first word. "What time is it," I asked, simply leaving no room for anything else.

She looked down at the bed and began to search through the white covers viciously pulling them to and through as I glided my hands across them until my fingertips touched cold metal and wrapped my hands around the object. Pressing a random button the tiny screen flares to life and flashes a displeasing 9:43 PM, which made my stomach drop. It was 10:32 AM, the last I remembered but here I was in a foreign place trying to regain the hours I had lost, but why had I lost them. What had happened before I came to this place, before the _dream_.

Before I could open my mouth to speak Sakura began awkwardly scratching the back of her head with a guilty look on her face, "Sorry, I kind of had to call-" doors slamming open cut her off.

"What did you do to my baby sister this time, Haruno," yelled a very angry Neji Hyuuga as he glared daggers into the back of the pink haired girl's head as she hunched her shoulders trying to shield herself from his wrath.

"I'm fine, Asshole," I called from my place on the bed giving my older brother a bland look to clue him into the fact he did not need to over react, though, it was of no use because he only glowered back at me.

"This time," he countered. My brother did not try to hide his dissatisfaction with one of my few friends after the second time we got skipping the curfew for minors. Though, this wasn't helped by the fact that I neglected to tell him it was my idea to sneak out but I would be a fool to sell myself out to him so easily.

"Hey, I'm a good girl," Sakura said in mock hurt only half-defending herself. "It's Hina-chan who is the bad influence." She continued shoving my shoulder.

"Thanks for throwing me under the bus, Kura," I mumbled under my breath turning my head to the side in embarrassment as more attention was drawn to me.

"You are very welcome," she smiled cheekily, eyes creasing at the corners in her exuberant happiness.

"Haruno," Neji called, voice on edge not amused in the least by our dull banter.

"Yes," she said, looking at him over her shoulder.

"Get the doctor. I need a word with our dear Koneko-chan," he stated.

I launched myself forward causing Sakura to hold onto me as I reached towards my brother, claws out ready for the kill. My family only referred to me as Koneko when they wanted to be demeaning or put me in my place, everyone else was stupid and had a death wish. It was one of the few sentiments left behind by the traitor that was my female life giver, or in simpler, and less moronic terms, my mother Haruka Uchiwa-Hyuuga. She thought she was so clever when denoting me her little kitten, amused by my weakness and inability to fend for myself always protected by her big Inu, as Neji was often referred to as when we were children due to having a puggish face in his younger years.

"Leave," I nearly growled at Sakura as I exchanged heated glares with my brother, neither of us willing to back down.

"Only if you promise not to kill each other," she said in a nearly pleading tone as she looked back and forth between the two of us, worry shining brightly in her eyes.

I close my eyes for a second, forcing them to soften before looking back her and giving her the fake promise of, "I won't touch a hair on his head. We are merely going to have a civil discussion. Isn't that right, Neji," I asked pointedly to my brother.

"That is correct," he replied, always the perfect liar.

Sakura stalls for a second before sighing and bowing her head in defeat, "Alright, I'm going to get the doctor. I'll be right back,"

Neji and I do not remove our eyes from each other as she silently exits the room. Deep down I knew it was going to be the same conversation we had every time I had one of my fainting spells that were growing more and more frequent as the murders increased, but I could not seem to find the connection between the two. Part of me thought it was merely a warning that I would eventually suffer the same fate as Yuki and the others, though, I could not bring myself to fully except that answer because no one truly ever wanted to believe that they were going to die even though it was the one truly inescapable fate that we all shared.

"Hinata," he finally said, wearily.

"Neji," I replied, just as exhausted.

"Did you see it again? That white place, the nothingness." He asked, looking at me with eyes that showed thinly masked fear.

"Yeah," I said, looking down in my lap staring into the pure white blankets only to quickly force my eyes back up to focus on his black hair because I no longer could stand the sight of white. The color of death, the color of nothingness that seemed to now chase me the closer I came to the edge of what the _other one_ called Truth.

"Did you see _it_?" he asked, averting his eyes anywhere but on me.

"You mean did I see _me_. Yeah, I saw _me_, but I didn't give myself any new answers. _I_ never do, only get angry and give myself little riddles that aren't too funny," I voiced solemnly. It's funny how you're your own worst enemy in this silly little game.

Before Neji can ask another question Sakura reenters with the doctor in tow looking so smug, so proud of herself because she knew she rescued me from the awkward discomfort of discussing my growing madness with my brother who could never bring himself to understand completely. Though, when I look at the doctor I realized that my brother is not the only Hyuuga that is going to interrogate me on my fainting. My doctor was none other than my distant cousin, Ko Hyuuga, who my father did not approve of never giving us the exact reason as to why. They would see him once or twice a year when the rest of the family came to our home to have "business discussions" with our father which resulted in hushed whispers from within his study and harsh no's that seemed to shake through the house before they were thrown from our home, father seething with thinly veiled anger.

"Can I just go," I said quickly, raising my hands up to shield me from his probing hands as he came nearer.

Ko gives me a chastising glare; "I need to do an exam before you can leave, Hinata-sama,"

"Ko, we're cousins stop with the sama. I'm not a little girl that wants to feel so self important because of a silly honorific anymore," I complained, giving him a look.

"My apologies, Hinata-san," he replies, trading the sama for the lesser san thinking it would appease me.

I pout my lip out at him, but he disregards it raising his finger up in front of my face before saying, "Follow my finger with your eyes. Do not move your head to do so,"

Left to right then right to left his hand moves and my eyes follow, but the exam doesn't seem real almost as if he is just going through the motions to make it seem valid when he already has the results formulated in his head. He finishes the exam quickly, never taking a single note. He pulls out a pad with only a few select words written on it- University of Tokyo Hospital, Physician and Appointment Date- quickly scribbling his name in the physician block before looking back to me.

"Your friend," he said inclining his head towards Sakura. "has told me that you have been fainting frequently. I want you to come and see me, so, I can diagnose you further,"

"She doesn't need your help," Neji interjected, voice on edge.

"So, like Hiashi, always declining aid when it would only be for your betterment. I am merely a doctor concerned for my patient, Hyuuga-sama, nothing more," he replied, voice smooth, betraying nothing.

I sigh, "Make it for next Tuesday at 6pm, I can't make any other time,"

He handed me the slip and quickly got up from the bed and exited the room causing everyone to stare at me, but the white walls were too much like that _place_ and Ko's probing eyes did not make my condition any better, staring through me in their chilling gray blankness. I could hear the pounding of Sakura and Neji's feet as they ran to catch up to me, Neji wrapping his arms protectively around my shoulders when he reached me as a way of telling me everything would be all right as long as he was here with a heart beating so feverishly with life. Sakura just smiled.

**Tokyo Station**

We waited in the cool night air for the last train to Konoha to arrive. Sakura played with her new phone while Neji crossed his arms across his chest and stared off into the distance, eyes focusing on nothing. I dug my hands deep within my pockets twisting them around, fingers sweeping across random articles shoved in with haste until fingers grasped around the medical slip. I knew it without looking for is was still nearly mint for it did not have the time to crumble and rip, shredding it into tiny pieces never to be regarded again. Something forces me to look at, forcing me to read the words that should be simple but when I draw it to my face they aren't what they should be. They're something worse, something that should not be there.

_I know what you saw- Ko Hyuuga_

* * *

Chapter Three Preview

_"Why," a young man of only nineteen whispered in a strangled voice to his attack, skin dyed with blood and ink colored hair shrouding his face from view. "Why have you done this to us, brother,"_


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: None of the characters or setting belong to me they are all the intellectual property of Masashi Kishimoto.

Author's Note: I have not updated this story in a while so I decided to publish a short chapter before going on hiatus.

* * *

"_Why," a young man of only nineteen whispered in a strangled voice to his attacker, wisps of ink colored hair shrouding his face from view. "Why have you done this to us, brother,"_

"_I am only trying to make you stronger, little brother. I offer to you the Truth, something a lesser man would never achieve I give to you freely," his dark friend, replied in a voice that echoed in the hollowed room, each word heavy with intent._

_The young man tried to laugh only resulting into him going into a coughing fit, blood staining his mouth, before managing to say, "You have destroyed me, brother. Taken my will to live through the deaths of all I held dear. I refuse your offer, refuse the so called strength you claim to give so freely," with this the scene faded to black. _

"You're getting closer," _I _said.

I wake, but I do not open my eyes because once I opened them I knew the fear, the anxiety would come rushing back in, robbing me of the peace I attained in slumber even if my dreams were not sweet. The darkness crept closer, pulling my breath from my lungs as fear started to seize me in its cold grasp wishing to take me into the unknown that hid within the darkness. It was silly that I was still afraid of the dark at seventeen, not able to sleep without the black and white static screen of the television that would eventually leave me as I exited the conscious world. But, I could feel it, the dark hand reaching out to grab me only inches from my neck waiting for the right moment to strike and steal life from me. People would tell me nothing was there, but I could sense it in my half-conscious state and it was a malevolent being that wished me no good.

"Open your eyes!" _I _screamed.

I could see _it_, hovering in the corner staring at me with black eyes that eerily reflected the light that came in through my window. Fire creeps up my neck, bleeding into my ears as my pulses hummed rapidly within them. _BA-DUMP-_ can _it_ hear it, can _it_ hear my heartbeat as it pounds painfully in my chest as panic seeps into my brain. Fight or flight is not kicking in, my limbs will not move as my brain is too numb to command them, seized by this all consuming fear. Am I going to die, was my only thought in that moment as both of us stood still unsure of what the first move would be.

"Don't move, or I won't have a choice," _he_ spoke, in a voice that for a very brief moment, so quick it seemed unreal, quivered with unease.

"Why? _What _are you," I asked, eyes trained on him not daring to look away for a second. Deep in my bones I knew I could not give him the upper hand for it meant sealing my fate.

"I go by many names, none I would dare utter for it would bring _Kami's _judging eyes upon me," he stated, revealing nothing.

"Demon?" I guessed.

He looked at me, a rueful smirk on his face. What did he have to regret? What had transpired before this moment and why wasn't I running? "Close, but I feel as if I am something far worst,"

"What could be worst then a demon?" I whispered, confusion pouring into my voice.

He tsked, bowing his head towards the floor, "A lot of things. I'm just one of the many," he spoke looking out the window. Realization flashed across his face for a moment then he looked back at me, fear shining in his eyes. "I must go. Good night, Tsuki,"

"That's…." the lights flashed on before I could finish and with that he was gone.

"Who are you talking to, Hinata," Neji asked from the doorway.

I turned to look at him, standing there in sweat pants with one leg rolled above his knee and the other hanging past his feet and a hand rubbing viciously at his right eye trying to clear away the sleep. He gives me a quizzical glance with his opened gray eye but I look away to stare out the window at the blinking street lamp. Was it a dream?

"No one," I answer. "Only talking in my sleep,"

"Well, good night," he said, slowly closing the door.

My heart seized with panic, "Neji!"

He opened the door, "Yes,"

I looked down at my hands mangling them together to comfort myself, "Can I sleep with you tonight," I asked like a scared little girl wishing for her big brother to protect her.

"Hi…" he began, hesitantly.

"Please, Brother," I begged, voice shaking.

His dark eyes looked at me, pity and want to protect filling them as he drew closer. Hands reached out gripping onto my shoulders to pull me into a warm chest. This was his silent way of telling me that no danger would come to me tonight as long as he was around. But, how long would this false security last?

I watched the shadows on the wall all night, putting my hand behind me every so often to make sure that Neji was still there. Every bump caused my spine shiver. My ears burned hot as all the bad thoughts raced through my mind and no two good would stop them as the pummeled my false sense of inward security. I welcomed, prayed for the sun to color my wall to banish the danger for a few hours of peace.


End file.
